Son Becoming More Sensitive To Everything?

[LoriCF]

Hi,

I have a question about increased sensitivity to foods after removing gluten from the diet.

My 7-year-old son appears to be gluten intolerant, the most lately-discovered in a long line of food intolerances including milk, soy, nuts, shellfish, legumes, artificial colors, strawberries, chocolate, all of which cause behavior changes. He hasn't been formally diagnosed as gluten intolerant (we had taken gluten out of his diet before having him tested so the blood test was inconclusive), but we're pretty sure.

Since we removed gluten from his diet 3 months ago, he's had a lot of positive physical changes; BMs more normal, more energy, his appetite has moderated, his behavior is better. But he also has much more violent reactions when he does accidentally ingest some gluten no matter how small--stomach cramps, very bad diarrhea. Is this normal to have his sensitivity increase so much?

And also, it seems like he's much more sensitive to some foods he hasn't been before, most notably citric acid and tomatoes. Pretty soon my poor kid won't be able to eat anything but rice and water! Has this happened to anyone else? Will he eventually be able to tolerate other foods again?

I'd be grateful for any thoughts on this at all, and would be interested in hearing from anyone whose child has behavioral reactions to food.

Thanks so much!

Lori

[CarlaB]

It's very normal to become more sensitive to gluten once it's removed from your diet -- in the same way a smoker becomes more sensitive to a single cigarette once they've stopped smoking for some time.

As he heals, there's the chance he won't have sensitivities to all those foods anymore, but if you ever decided to try them again, I would keep a food diary and only add one at a time carefully watching his reactions. I am keeping my diet very simple -- meat, chicken, fish, eggs, fruits, veggie, rice and potatoes -- until I heal more. Doing this seems to be affecting my health in a very positive way.